Lessons learned will benefit Tinwald upgrade
From local democracy reporter Jonathan Leask:
Lessons learned from Walnut Ave are already being put into practice for Ashburton’s next major road works project.
The Tinwald corridor will be upgraded next year with traffic signals and an upgraded rail crossing installed at the intersection of State Highway 1, Lagmhor Rd, and Agnes St intersection, similar to the recently completed Walnut Ave upgrade.
The Walnut Ave project was criticised for taking too long, with a gap between Waka Kotahi and KiwiRail completing their parts of the project.
Fronting the Ashburton District Council, Waka Kotahi director regional relationships James Caygill said: “taking lessons learned out of the Walnut Ave project”, Waka Kotahi is working closely with KiwiRail to get all the design work done before the project goes out for tender early next year.
“We should have full design wrapped up by the end of the calendar year,” Caygill said.
“And with all things going well on [the tender] front, construction starting before the middle of next year.”
There is no estimated timeframe for completion until the project is tendered he said.
“At this stage, you should expect substantial progress by the middle of next year.”
One change has been made to the designs from the public engagement with the Melcombe St viaduct to remain open to two-way traffic, “with monitoring to maintain that works”, Caygill said.
It was proposed for the viaduct to be limited to left-out only onto SH1 he said, but concerns were raised about the impacts of the limited access “and the way that would cascade back through the level crossings or other intersections”.
The Walnut Ave project was heavily scrutinised by the council and the community over its prolonged timing but Caygill was pleased the project was completed on time.
The community will hope that with Waka Kotahi working closer with KiwiRail before construction begins in Tinwald, the project will not take the 18 months Walnut Ave did to complete.
*Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
Best way to use leftovers?
I'm sure you've got some excess ham at home or cold roast potatoes.
What are some of your favourite ways to use leftover food from Christmas day? Share below.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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62.5% Summer
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36.1% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
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